National and Local Media Coverage of Amendment A and IM 26 Press Conference

On Wednesday June 10th, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws and New Approach South Dakota held a well-attended Zoom media availability conference that lasted for more than an hour. Participants in the call included:

• Brendan Johnson, former U.S. Attorney for South Dakota;

• Chuck Parkinson, former senior Ronald Reagan and U.S. Senator Jim Abdnor staffer;

• Melissa Mentele, campaign manager for Initiated Measure 26; and

• Drey Samuelson, Political Director of South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, which oversees IM 26 and Amendment A, legalizing adult-use marijuana.  

Reporters from all over the state attended as well as reporters from Politico and Cannabis Wire

The most comprehensive article was written by veteran South Dakota reporter, Bob Mercer, who now works for KELO News. Read the article here.

Mercer noted a key point when he wrote:

“Melissa Mentele of Emery is sponsor of Initiated Measure 26 that would legalize medical marijuana in South Dakota. Mentele told reporters Wednesday the constitutional amendment would provide political protection for her proposal. The Legislature can’t change the South Dakota Constitution. “

There are a number of strong arguments for Amendment A, but one of the most important is the fact that it places into the South Dakota Constitution a provision that protects IM 26 from being picked apart by the South Dakota Legislature, a very real concern if Amendment A isn’t there to protect it (as was painfully learned when the South Dakota Legislature essentially repealed IM 22, the South Dakota Anti-Corruption Act in 2017). 

KELO-TV also covered the Zoom conference on their 6:00 and 10:00 news broadcasts, which you can watch here.

South Dakota Public Radio was represented by Lee Strubinger, who gave this audio report.

Strubinger also noted Mentele’s point on how Amendment A (adult-use) protects Initiated Measure 26:

“Melissa Mentele is the president of New Approach South Dakota. She says Constitutional Amendment A is designed to protect Initiated Measure 26."

“We’ve seen the state legislature take apart bills that the people have voted on. We don’t want that to happen,” Mentele says. “Keep medical protections for our patients. People need to understand it’s not one or the other, we do need both.”

Strubinger also wrote:

“According to a state legislative research council document, incarcerations costs would decrease.

Brendan Johnson, a former South Dakota US attorney from 2009 to 2015 and son of former South Dakota US Senator Tim Johnson, is backing the constitutional amendment. He says the state has an over criminalization problem with cannabis.

‘By dropping prohibition we have we will reduced the criminalization of a generation of South Dakotans,’ Johnson says. ‘Which is in our best interests, in my view.’

The state could raise an estimated $29 million dollars by 2024. Fifty percent of revenues would go to public schools, the other to the state’s general fund.”

Black Hills Fox (KEVN) ran a segment on the announcement as well, noting:

“Both are closely related, and if both pass, the Constitutional Amendment would absorb the Initiated Measure.”

South Dakota Associated Press, Stephen Groves attended, and filed this report.

Highlights included:

“Marijuana legalization advocates kicked off their campaign on Wednesday to convince South Dakota voters to vote to legalize both medical and recreational marijuana in the November general election.

“South Dakota, where marijuana is currently illegal, would be the first state to approve both medical and recreational marijuana at the same time, if voters pass a pair of initiatives on the November ballot. In a solidly-conservative state, the proposals may serve as an indicator of how much opinions on marijuana have changed as states across the nation move to legalize a drug that is still technically outlawed by the federal government.

“The current movement to reform policing and criminal justice laws after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer may lend momentum to the campaign to legalize, said supporter Brendan Johnson, a former U.S. attorney who was appointed under President Barack Obama.

“’People are more conscious than ever about the concern of over-criminalization,’ he said. ‘Law enforcement priorities should be focused on significant crimes.’

“The campaign is casting itself as a bipartisan effort, recruiting an initial list of 50 South Dakotans to endorse the initiatives, including Chuck Parkinson who worked under Republican President Ronald Reagan and U.S. Senator Jim Abdnor.

“Drey Samuelson, the group’s political director, said it planned to run a ‘grassroots campaign,’ working to convince people of the benefits of [legalizing] marijuana, including its potential for new business and tax revenue. The group also plans to encourage people to vote absentee, hoping that an increased voter turnout will push the initiatives to get the majority of votes they need to pass.

“A couple Native American tribes in the state have also eyed the economic benefits of marijuana, with the Oglala Sioux Tribe voting to legalize both medical and recreational pot in March.”

Cannabis Wire had a reporter there, as well, Alyson Martin, whose headline accurately noted that “South Dakota Voters Could Make Cannabis History in November.” Here are some highlights:

“As Brendan Johnson, former US Attorney for South Dakota pointed out during the conversation, voter turnout is expected to be high in November because it’s a presidential election year. For this reason, cannabis advocates have targeted presidential elections, followed by midterm elections, for ballot initiatives. For example, in 2016, voters in nine states saw medical or adult use cannabis legalization on their ballots, eight of which were successful. 

“Johnson emphasized that thoughts on cannabis law reform are evolving at a fast rate, and said that cannabis law reform has emerged as a bipartisan issue, with libertarians and conservatives increasingly seeing legalization as a way for governments to raise revenue and to cut the costs of incarceration, and to reduce “overcriminalization of our youth.” 

“’I think what we’re going to see in South Dakota on this issue is really a coalition of both Democrats and Republicans coming together and [saying] prohibition does not work. It has not worked in the past. And it’s time, for the interest of our economy as well as the next generation, to get this right,’ Johnson said.’”

The entire article can be viewed here.

Politico’s Natalie Fertig participated, and asked a good number of questions, but has yet to file an article.  If and when she does, we will provide an overview here.